Looking for personal opinion on my starting bankroll..

I've read some poker books, my favorites always been by Doyle.. Messed around and blew chunks of money in online poker play, hopping from penny stakes to dollars.. Mostly for the fun of it, but now I really would like to buckle down and play serious poker, not only for fun but to beat the game and profit from it.

The two programs I have and use are PI and PT3, the most I seem to be able to multitable is 2 for now..

Friday evening, I'll be starting off with a $50 bankroll.. I know tournaments are suppose to be easier than cash games, but I have a way stronger interest in cash games than those tournaments or SNGS.

So, with a $50 BR (I play on FTP BTW), what stakes do you think I should start at and when should I move up for each stake?

Thanks!

Sigh... check all the threads on BRM for all the answers.

Don't buy in for more than 2% of BR for tourneys and 5% for cash games is basically it.

Use the Search feature there are tons of threads to answer these and your forthcoming questions... before starting other ones pls.

*SIGH*

Those are pretty much pre-set answers, I asked for a personal response based on what I've said.

Things would obviously be different for someone who JUST stepped in the door to poker VS. someone who has actually been playing for a few months.

I never go by pre-set answers, I always like personal opinion.

I'd recommend starting with SnGs actually. I think they give a great foundation and can teach you a ton about proper strategy. They're also filled with bad players at the $2+.25 bi level which you would be rolled for imo.

Also do yourself a favor and start getting better even before you put your 1st $$ on the table by reading the excellent articles and posts here. They're free and they will allow you to learn without paying for it.

From your OP it really doesn't sound like you ever played seriously enough to even consider yourself anything but a new player. I think Makwa's "standard answers" are right on when it comes to BRM and if you don't think you need to start that small you're likely just throwing this deposit away like all the rest.

So those standards also apply to someone who just stepped in poker vs someone whose played live with friends, read 5 or so books, and has gotten a taste/feel for a lot of the stakes online?

That just doesn't sound right.

I do not think that BRM changes in relation to your poker experience. I only play cash games and the %5 buy in is pretty standard and safe. With a $50 bankroll, you may have to break the above rule if the site doesnt have any tables with less than a $5 buy in.

I was thinking I should skip 1/2 and go to 2/5?

They're standards for a reason and it's not your skill level, it's the game itself.

Variance is a bitch and it effects everyone. Playing with a short roll is just asking to go busto again and it won't teach you a damn thing. Even if you run good for a short while, you'll be thinking that you can take another shot at the next higher level with your expanded roll and eventually you'll need to redeposit.

Take it or leave it but without following proper BRM you'll never be good.

Also if you're as good as you think you are (and you're not) you'll easily crush 2nl and be playing 5nl properly rolled in no time anyway.

To be honest i think with $50 BR you should be looking at playing the $1 90 seater double stacks. Just to double up your bankroll.

Playing cash with $50 could be quite challenging! Unless you play Limit!

I already beat 1/2 making around $1+/hour per table, but it takes so much of my patience.

Do it then! Just to get your BR higher!

Wouldn't it be faster to just start at 5NL though? When I play 2NL for too long I lose my patience and feel those few bucks was a lot of work for nothing.

Sample size? Tiny right because $1/hr/table works out to like 35BB/100 at 2nl and like I said, you're not that good.

Also adding a few tables should help with the boredom. Work yourself up to at least 6 tables if you want to concentrate on cash games. Seriously it should take someone with your awesome skills less than a week to be properly rolled for 5nl.

Also you only get 1 more post on the day, so gl.

No because if you can not handle it your start losing your BR instead of building it up

You shouldn't be playing any cash games with a $50 BR. You are not rolled for anything except 2nl. So, with $50 all you can play is 2nl or SNG's.

If you do this on 2nl, you'll do it on 5nl, then 10nl, then 25nl and so on!!! You need to get that out of your head, right now!!! Or you'll always end up going broke.

I wasn't using any programs at the time because those were the first games I started to play. I played 1 table the first day I played poker, lost the $10 I put in.. (first time playing poker)..

Then I put in a $30 deposit (FTP lets you do $10? THEN makes you do $30 after that? lol)

Played 2 tables and after 1 week of playing a few hours a day, I was able to pull around a dollar per hour off each table, but I could only handle 2 tables at a time..

Then I was just too bored with those stakes and started hoping around prematurely.. Mainly for the fun and the addiction of the NL games. Most I won was $80 one time, so that got me goin crazy to the $1/$2 games, gained gained then lost it all.

It sounds like you want to ignore all the advice you have been given, and don't care what has been said previously by others who have answers to your questions.
So my 'personal opinion' is you might as well just start with 25 or 50$ buyins, and get it all over with. That would be the 'faster' way to going busto IMHO, which is where you are going if you don't stick by what BRM is all about.
Just my personal opinion tho.

BTW the diff between just stepping 'in the door' and 'been playing a few months' is negligible to the experts you have trying to help you. These are people with collective experience amounting to decades, and you still think you have better ideas!!?? GL with that. RIP buddy...

And this will be exactly what your experience ends up to be this time if you choose to ignore the standard rules. Like I said they're standards for the game, not the player.

Ya, don't get the question. Pretty standard to start at 2NL with that bankroll, but it seems you want someone to greenlight you to play higher.

By your writing I feel that you might tilt if you loose some cash, my suggestion is to make yourself a limit and if you gets it (winning or loosing). choose the options on FullTilt that forbbits you to play for 12 hrs.

Please listen to these guys...they know what they are saying! I started playing Poker less than 4 months ago & reading all that these much more experienced players say is key to increasing your knowledge! CC has so much to offer...but only IF you accept the help & read what they say to READ! This, of course, is my opinion..take it or leave it...it's entirely up to you. But I'd stick to the lower stakes & no more than 1 or two tables until you are STEADILY winning...otherwise you can transfer your BR to me...I would love it! TY!

Here it is, I'll give you what you're asking for, not the standard advice, but my thoughts on the topic that come from 20 years of playing poker, and about 10 of them taking it pretty seriously. 20 buy ins is inadequate. Pros who preach this still go broke. You're no pro. Therefore what is inadequate for the pro is woefully inadequate for you, and me. 20 is solid insuance, don't get me wrong, but really it only serves to insure against math boning you. If math were all that got in our way then every physicist would be a pro.

You sound as though you'll have your moments, like we all do, where you do a fair share of sticking it to yourself without math even needing to help you out. Before you can say anything about your game you need a sample size you haven't even thought of getting at a limit, typically between 50,000 and 100,000. It is very possible, likely even, that you'll manage to get yourself rolled to move up to 5nl by playing 2nl with your 50 stack, but it is also very possible, though assuming you play well not so likely, that you go bust.

But beyond trying to crush your dreams. What you've read means nothing till you have practiced it. Get hands in. Tons of hands. Definitly learn to play more tables, no point in moving up in the micros till you can handle 6 tables at once. The money is softer, so more tables of bigger fishies equals more money. I have more to learn than I've even begun to know about this game to play is perfectly and I'm a consistent winner over quite a long term. You have to stay humble, and be willing to take good advice, and not push for your own justifications.

Perhaps check out some of Alan Schoonmaker's books. They are about you and your psychology, not the technical play, and it seems you would benefit from some of this approach if you want to take it seriously.

50 in not a serious bank roll, its enought o have some fun !! If your serious just drop a grand and get it rollin. If you as goood as you think you are , you will be ballin quick.

I am new to the game. Played play chips since FTP started years ago. After getting tired of my friend mocking my "Playchip Millionare" status, I made the jump to real cash about six months ago. I am pretty much "even" for my time playing, but I have earned money with my buy in bonus, the Biggest Bonus Ever, and get rake back. Considering all that, I have almost tripled my initial buy in.

You have to play stakes relative to your bankroll or you will go broke. Deposit more than $50 or play within that limit. Otherwise you will just have to deposit more later. Go with the .02/.05 or .05/.10 cash games or the $1 or $2 buy in tournaments. If you are good you should be at the final table often and cash enough to start earning a small ROI. Also, get that rake back. It helps.

Ok. For perspective, I've read 10-15 books and have played about 50-100,000 microlimit hands. With a $50 bankroll, I'd feel nervous playing 5nl. One suck out and 10% of your bankroll goes poof. One session like that can become 5, then you're asking how to manage a $25 bankroll. I'd feel comfortable playing $2 sngs, but I have about 500 of them under my belt I know what my typical ROI looks like. I've even calculated my risk of ruin based on my own results, so I can put a hard number on the likelihood I'll lose everything, and that's a small number. I think what people are recommending you do is good advice for me. Their advice has nothing to do with you, really, it has to do with the intrinsic variance in the game.

If you want "permission" to play higher, there's only really one question that matters. If you lose it all, can you reload? If so, play whatever you want. If not, proper bankroll management is important.

RF

Need more information to answer your questions. Are you a tournament or ring/cash player? What is your largest cash in an online tourney or ring/cash table? What game(s) do you play? i.e. NLHE, RAZZ, etc. At low stakes you should be able to play 4 tables with no problem. Turn off the TV and other distractions and you will be fine. Still, more info is needed if you want personal advice. JMHO. X

I think that IVEGOTOUTS hit the nail on the head. You may want to review the psychology behind your play with some more reading. Judging from your posts, it seems like you are more in it for the kicks. If you want to take it serious, then the BR advice you keep reading here is the path that affords you the best chance for success.

Since I have your ear, just one more thing. Your time and skills may be worth well over the $1 or $2 per hour that your are making, but do not discount the value in experience earned and lessons learned from playing within the proper limits. This applies to both your technical skills AND your psychology toward the game. GL to you.

You obviously want to start at a higher level than what $50 bankrolls you for, but take all the advice serious. If you can't stand grinding 1/2c then deposit $100 or more.

These kind of people are my favorite kind of people to play with

tickin time bombs

http://www.pokertableratings.com/ful...irollfreerolls

save yourself, I've learned from my mistakes and never would I want to do it again. I lost all my freeroll winnings and bonuses from a $20 deposit.

http://www.pokertableratings.com/sta...h/itsalwyscold

I also started with a $50 deposit and I follow a strict BRM. If you are really serious about playing poker start off at 2NL like everyone said and abuse the promotions/freerolls they have so you'll be able to move up quicker. Its pretty boring at 2NL since your mainly waiting on good spots/hands to get into so I usually do something while playing.

I don't think the actual amount of money is important. If you have $100 dollars to play with, then you don't buy into a cash game for more than $5. If you have $100,000...its $5000.

If i were really really rich, i wouldnt play micro stakes. The philosophy of bankroll management will not make you a better player. BRM simply allows a generally winning player to consistently overcome the variance associated with bad beats/suck outs/etc.

I'm gonna give you some advice that is also going to be a little different.

BRM is aimed at people that can't afford to go broke. I think that people are way to conservative most of the time with their rolls. I like to take chances and play short stacked, and short rolled, if it gives me the chance of a better pay day. I'm guessing your a young kid that is getting into poker. Losing $50 won't kill you. Play what ever stakes you think will keep your attention...but you need to see that there are serious problems in your idea of what playing cash games successfully takes.

Play the .02/.05 game if you want. $50 is enough for a few buy ins, and see what happens. I suggest you buy in with a shorter stack so that you have few more buy ins. $5.00 should be good. That gives you 10 buy ins at that level. See how it goes.

Put the $50 in and play, if you lose it o well maybe you will step back and think about your play. If you win, good for you. You have very little experience (reading books is almost worthless when compared to playing hands) and unrealistic ideas of how the game works. Cash games are about being patient and getting the money in over and over with small edges. You can't force action in cash games with great success. It doesn't work well in full ring games at .05nl.

Good luck to you. Let us know how you do.

Thanks for all the advice guys!

Is their a section in this forum where you post your bankroll and updates on where your at?